Offshore tax evasion remains a serious problem for countries and jurisdictions worldwide, with vast amounts of funds deposited abroad and sheltered from taxation when taxpayers fail to comply with obligations in their home countries.

On 15 November 2013, the OECD Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) invited public comments on a discussion draft on technical changes to be included in the next update to the OECD Model Tax Convention. The OECD has now published the comments received on that discussion draft.

OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría has welcomed moves by more than 40 countries – reinforced by EU leaders - to commit to a detailed timetable to step up the fight against tax evasion.

Bank secrecy for tax purposes is coming to an end as countries and major financial centres commit to automatic exchange of information between jurisdictions.

Andorra has become the 48th signatory to an OECD Declaration that commits countries to end bank secrecy for tax purposes.

Company cars form a large proportion of the car fleet in many OECD countries and are also influential in determining the composition of the wider vehicle fleet. When employees provided with a company car use that car for personal purposes, personal income tax rules value the benefit in a number of different ways.

Taking an important step towards greater transparency and putting an end to banking secrecy in tax matters, the OECD today released the full version of a new global standard for the exchange of information between jurisdictions.

The new OECD/G20 standard on automatic exchange of information was endorsed today by all OECD and G20 countries as well as major financial centres participating in the annual meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes in Berlin. A status report on committed and not committed jurisdictions will be presented to G20 leaders during their annual summit in Brisbane, Australia on November 15-16.

Public comments are invited on the discussion draft on the use of profit splits in the context of global value chains, released as part of the work in relation to Action 10 of the BEPS Action Plan.

On 16 December 2014, the OECD invited comments from interested parties on a discussion draft on the use of profit splits in the context of global value chains. This work relates to Action 10 of the BEPS Action Plan. The OECD is grateful to the commentators for their input, and now publishes the comments received.

In a boost for international efforts to strengthen co-operation against offshore tax evasion, seven new countries have joined the agreement to exchange information automatically under the OECD/G20 standard.

Keeping tax transparency high on the agenda of Governments and taking steps to ensure a worldwide level playing field will top the agenda during the 8th meeting of the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, in Bridgetown, Barbados on 29-30 October 2015.

On 17 December 2015 Greenland signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎, re-confirming its commitment to implement automatic exchange of financial account information in time to exchange in 2017.

Malaysia today signed the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎, re-confirming its commitment to implement automatic exchange of financial account information in time to commence exchanges in 2018.

In a continued effort to boost transparency in international tax matters, the OECD has today released its standardised electronic format for the exchange of Country-by-Country (CbC) Reports between jurisdictions – the CbC XML Schema – as well as the related User Guide.

The OECD and the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes announced today that Bahrain, Lebanon, Nauru, Panama and Vanuatu have now committed to share financial account information automatically with other countries.

Jamaica and Uruguay today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and Brazil deposited its instrument of ratification of the Convention on the occasion of the launch of the OECD’s Latin American and Caribbean Regional Programme and the OECD Ministerial Council Meeting.

Paraguay has joined the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes as its 134th member.

G20 Finance Ministers, in their communique of February 2016, called upon the IMF, OECD, UN and World Bank Group to “recommend mechanisms to help ensure effective implementation of technical assistance programmes, and recommend how countries can contribute funding for tax projects and direct technical assistance, and report back with recommendations” at their July meeting.

Today, as a further step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the first series of bilateral automatic exchange relationships were established among the first batch of jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically as of 2017.

As part of continuing efforts to boost transparency by multinational enterprises (MNEs), Brazil, Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man and Latvia signed today the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for the automatic exchange of Country-by-Country reports, bringing the total number of signatories to 49.

This paper explores the practical challenges tax policy analysts face when trying to apply differential taxation to “normal” and “excess” returns. The distinction between these two elements is being increasingly used in tax policy. The problem is that there is no clear definition for a “normal” return.

Saint Lucia today signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. Saint Lucia became the 107th jurisdiction to join the Convention.

Today, another important step to implement the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS) was taken, with a further 350 bilateral automatic exchange relationships being established between over 50 jurisdictions committed to exchanging information automatically pursuant to the OECD Common Reporting Standard (CRS), starting in 2017.

Thailand's membership reinforces its commitment to implement both the international standard of exchange of information on request and the standard of automatic exchange of financial account information.

On 6 January 2017, public comments were invited on draft examples prepared as part of the follow-up work on the interaction between the treaty provisions of the report on BEPS Action 6 and the treaty entitlement of non-CIV funds. The OECD is grateful for the input and now publishes a compilation of the comments received.

To further support the consistent implementation of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the OECD today released a series of additional CRS-related Frequently Asked Questions; and the second edition of the Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information in Tax Matters.

Approximately 300 participants, representing over 100 delegations from countries, jurisdictions and international organisations, as well as representatives from the business community and academia, gathered in Paris for the fourth meeting of the OECD Global Forum on VAT on 12-14 April 2017.

Today, another important step was taken to implement Country-by-Country Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports.

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, H. E. Sami Mohammad Alsulaiman, Ambassador of Kuwait to France, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs. Mari Kiviniemi, therewith becoming the 110th jurisdiction to join the Convention.

As part of its ongoing efforts to maintain the integrity of the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), the OECD is today launching a disclosure facility on the AEOI portal which allows interested parties to report potential schemes to circumvent the CRS.Over 1800 bilateral exchange relationships in place for the exchange of CRS information.

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, H.E. Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance of Bahrain signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the CRS Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement‎ (CRS MCAA).

Today, at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, Her Excellency Datin Paduka Malai Halimah Malai Yussof, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Brunei Darussalam to France, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of OECD Deputy Secretary-General, Mr. Masamichi Kono.

At present, 102 jurisdictions have publicly committed to implement the Common Reporting Standard, with 49 being committed to start exchanges this month and a further 53 taking up exchanges in September 2018.

Today, the OECD has released updated and new IT-tools and guidance to support the technical implementation of the exchange of tax information under the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), on Country-by-Country Reporting (CbC) and in relation to tax rulings (ETR).

Tax administrations are playing a critical role as governments start implementing new international measures to counter offshore evasion and combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises.

The Forum on Tax Administration (FTA) is the leading international body concerned with tax administration. The FTA, which brings together Tax Commissioners from 50 advanced and emerging tax administrations (including OECD and G20 countries), held its Plenary meeting in Oslo on 27-29 September.

Today, a further step was taken to implement Country-by-Country Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports ("the CbC MCAA").

Today, in Lima (Peru), Claudia María Amelia Teresa Cooper Fort, Minister of Economy and Finance of Peru, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of the Deputy Director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, Grace Perez-Navarro. The Republic of Peru is the 114th jurisdiction to join the Convention, and the 12th Latin American jurisdiction to do so.

Today, in at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, His Excellency Khalid Bin Rashid Al-Mansouri, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to France, signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters in the presence of the Deputy Secretary-General Masamichi Kono.

As part of continuing efforts to improve tax transparency and the international tax framework, the OECD has released the first analysis of individual countries' progress in spontaneously exchanging information on tax rulings in accordance with Action 5 of the BEPS package of measures released in October 2015.

The Common Reporting Standard (CRS), which is the basis for the automatic annual exchange of information on offshore financial accounts to the tax authorities of the residence country of account holders. At present, over 100 jurisdictions have publicly committed to implement the CRS, with half of them having started the exchange of CRS information in September and a further 53 set to follow in 2018.

Today, a further important step was taken to implement Country-by-Country (CbC) Reporting in accordance with the BEPS Action 13 minimum standard, through activations of automatic exchange relationships under the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement on the Exchange of CbC Reports ("the CbC MCAA").

The OECD and Brazil today launched a joint project to examine the similarities and gaps between the Brazilian and OECD approaches to valuing cross-border transactions between associated firms for tax purposes. The project will also assess the potential for Brazil to move closer to the OECD’s transfer pricing rules, which are a critical benchmark for OECD member countries and followed by countries around the world.

A OCDE e o Brasil lançaram hoje um projeto conjunto para examinar as semelhanças e lacunas entre a abordagem brasileira e a abordagem da OCDE com relação à avaliação das transações internacionais entre empresas associadas para efeitos fiscais.

Tax revenues in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) dipped in 2016, falling further behind average OECD country levels, but a recovery is likely in subsequent years, according to Revenue Statistics in Latin America and the Caribbean 2018. The average tax-to-GDP ratio stood at 22.7% in 2016, a fall of 0.3 percentage points since 2015, the report says.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA) which for the first time includes activations by Panama. The OECD also released the second edition of the Common Reporting Standard Implementation Handbook.

Building on BEPS Action 4, this practice note has been prepared by the OECD under a programme of co-operation with the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), to help guide tax officials on how to strengthen their defences against BEPS. Deadline for comment: 18 May 2018.

Today, the OECD published a new set of bilateral exchange relationships established under the Common Reporting Standard Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (CRS MCAA), bringing the total number of relationships to over 3200, an increase of more than 500 since April of this year.

Tax officials from 21 jurisdictions met this week in Yangzhou, China, to share experiences from the first year of country-by-country reporting and explore how information can be used most effectively in the tax risk assessment of MNE groups. The workshop also included representatives of large MNE groups headquartered or with major operations in China and the Asia-Pacific region.